Melbourne Law School - Research Publications

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    The Uncertainties, Baby: Hidden Perils of Australia's Authorisation Law
    Giblin, R (Thomson Reuters, 2009)
    As digital copying and online distribution become increasingly prevalent, the issue of when a technology provider can be held liable for its users’ infringements grows commensurately more important. In Australia, such liability is imposed through the tort of authorisation, which provides that a defendant will be liable if it “sanctioned, approved or countenanced” a third party infringement. Despite its significance however, some of the principal elements of the doctrine remain unclear. After tracing the origins and development of authorisation in Australia, the work explores the main uncertainties that plague the law today. With reference to the BitTorrent file sharing software, the work then explicitly highlights the ways in which those uncertainties may affect the provider of a useful technology that has both non-infringing and infringing uses. The underlying theme of the work is that, by failing to unequivocally dismiss the increasingly expansionist arguments that are being raised in this context, courts are inadvertently promulgating a de facto expansion of the Australian authorisation law. It concludes by arguing that, unless courts start concertedly addressing the law’s uncertainties and ambiguities, the law will continue to have a more dampening effect on technological innovation in Australia than courts or the legislature ever intended.
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    Copyright and cultural institutions: Guidelines for digitization for U.S. libraries, archives, and museums
    Hirtle, P ; HUDSON, EJ ; KENYON, A (Cornell University Library, 2009)
    The development of new digital technologies has led to fundamental changes in the ways that cultural institutions fulfill their public missions of access, preservation, research, and education. Many institutions are developing publicly accessible Web sites that allow users to visit online exhibitions, search collection databases, access images of collection items, and in some cases create their own digital content. Digitization, however, also raises the possibility of copyright infringement. It is imperative that staff in libraries, archives, and museums understand fundamental copyright principles and how institutional procedures can be affected by the law. “Copyright and Cultural Institutions” was written to assist understanding and compliance with copyright law. It addresses the basics of copyright law and the exclusive rights of the copyright owner, the major exemptions used by cultural heritage institutions, and stresses the importance of “risk assessment” when conducting any digitization project. Case studies on digitizing oral histories and student work are also included.
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    A Changing of the Guard: Enforcement of Workplace Relations Laws Since Work Choices and Beyond
    Hardy, T ; Forsyth, A ; Stewart, A (The Federation Press, 2009)
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    Changing work organisation and skill requirements
    Martin, B ; Healy, J (National Institute of Labour Studies Incorporated, 2009)
    This paper brings together all the case studies of work organisation and workplace change in Australian workplaces during the past decade, using these to assess exactly what we do and do not know about such change and its effects on skill requirements.
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    Review of Ronald Keith, and Zhiqiu Lin 'New crime in China: public order and human rights'
    Biddulph, S ; Keith, R ; Lin, Z (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2009-03-01)
    Review of the book 'New crime in China: public order and human rights'
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    Fragmentation or interaction: the WTO, fisheries subsidies, and international law
    Young, MA (CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2009-10)
    Abstract Subsidies to the fishing sector have trade and ecological consequences, especially for fisheries that are over-exploited. In response, WTO members are negotiating to clarify and improve the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. Yet significant legal challenges constrain this ongoing effort because fisheries conservation and management matters are often addressed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, instruments of the Food and Agriculture Organization, and other legal regimes to which some WTO members have not consented. This article analyses modes of learning and information exchange within the WTO regime, and compares the proposed use of standards, benchmarks, and peer review in the draft fisheries subsidies rules with existing arrangements between the WTO and organizations such as the OECD and product standard-setting bodies. It argues that novel deliberative strategies of regime interaction are more important in resolving the challenges posed by international law's fragmentation than adherence to strict mandates or legal hierarchies.
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    Journalism and Democratic Practice: Defamatio Law and Public Debate in Four Countries
    MARJORIBANKS, T ; KENYON, A (Macquarie University Faculty of Arts Politics and International Relations, 2009)
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